Speech by Zoe

Hello, my name is Zoe. I am 27 years old and have lived in Würzburg my whole life. Oh — and I am disabled. Don’t worry: that’s not an insult, but a neutral characteristic that belongs to me.

For people who cannot see me because of a visual impairment or cannot perceive me for other reasons, I will briefly describe myself: I am a white woman with chin-length straight brown hair and I sit in a black active wheelchair with electric drive on both wheels.

And what you might also want to know: I have never given a speech before — so please be kind to me.

The team from Fridays for Future approached me so that I could present a perspective that receives far too little attention: the perspective of a person with a disability.

As I already mentioned, I have lived my whole life in Würzburg and I am grateful for many measures that have been implemented here to promote inclusion. But I also love to travel and see how inclusion is practiced in other cities and countries — sometimes better, sometimes worse.

And for Würzburg, I can say: there is still a lot of room for improvement.

For my speech today, I did not only want to bring in my own perspective as a wheelchair user. I also asked people with different disabilities in my environment what they wish for a more inclusive Würzburg — especially in sustainable urban transport and public transport.

I will now read some of these wishes to you. Or maybe we can already call them demands?

We demand better and mandatory training for bus and tram drivers in dealing with people with disabilities. (And I would volunteer as a test subject!)

We demand that buses are consistently lowered.

We demand equal access to trams and buses. It cannot be that people with limited mobility can only use line 4 every 20 minutes, while others can travel every ten minutes. Equality looks different.

We demand the timely clearing of streets, sidewalks and crossings — after celebrations, during snowfall and when leaves are slippery.

We demand lowered curbs. Everywhere.

We demand the barrier-free expansion of the bus platforms at the main station. The islands are currently far too small to be used safely with a wheelchair.

We demand the general expansion of barrier-free stops. Accessibility means more than wheelchair accessibility: clear visual and acoustic displays, raised platforms for easier boarding, and functioning guidance systems for blind people.

We demand truly barrier-free public transport — with quiet areas, visual and acoustic displays, and modern electric ramps. This way, people with assistive devices can use buses and trams independently.

We demand the expansion of wheelchair-accessible taxis in Würzburg. A single accessible taxi is simply not sufficient for the people in the city and district.

We demand that we can use taxis without having to fear sexual harassment or violence.

We demand the expansion of disabled parking spaces in Würzburg. I know: driving a car may not be the most sustainable form of transport. But for many people with disabilities, driving means independence, self-determination and freedom.

And at the same time, we demand the barrier-free and safe expansion of cycling infrastructure — wide, clearly separated paths and regulations that prevent cars from blocking them.

These are twelve major demands. And yes — that may seem like a lot. But the right to participation is a human right. And implementing it is not a nice-to-have, but a necessity.

I would like to thank you for listening — and for standing up for a more just future. Please continue to listen to people with disabilities. We bring many concrete ideas and solutions — as you have just heard.

And I hope I was able to empower you to become more aware of barriers in your surroundings and to actively help remove them.